Gettin' Grungy Using Paper Templates

Article written using Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 with Windows 8

I have two teen-aged sons, and they rarely let me take their photos anymore. I feel like I have become some creepy paparazzi stalker lurking around with my camera for those times when I can catch them off-guard. They will reluctantly pose for the occasional holiday picture, but any more than that is a mama’s fantasy. My daughter, on the other hand, will let me take her picture 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

We didn’t go fully digital until my daughter was born, so most of the boys’ younger pictures are printed or scrapped in paper albums, while my daughter’s pictures are all sitting in my computer. As a result of this discrepancy, I have become much more adept at scrapping girly layouts rather than boy layouts. It’s not that I don’t want to scrap the boys; it’s that I just don’t have as much practice.

One of my go-to techniques when I do scrap my boys is to gravitate toward more grungy papers. I think if you add just a little (or a lot) of grunge to your papers, it adds a fun, masculine feel to a layout.

One of the easiest methods I have found to do this is to combine ready-made papers from a collection with aScrapSimple Paper Template. There are many types of grungy templates to choose from in the Scrap Girls Boutique. Some are just edgers, while others give more of an all-over look.

A very easy method of using paper templates is to place it on your background paper and play with the Blending Modes until you like the look. Don’t forget that, in addition to Blending Modes, you can also adjust the Opacity of the template, which can greatly increase or decrease the subtlety of the grunge.

On the following layout, I started with the Field paper from the First and Goal Collection from Angie Briggs. I really like this paper “as is,” but found that once I added my photos, it was too clean-looking, especially for the pictures of my hot and sweaty son.

By adding Grunge4 paper from ScrapSimple Paper Templates: Grunge by Mandy Steward and changing the Blending Mode to Linear Light and the Opacity to 90%, I got a background paper that better fit the feel of my layout.

See how it has more texture now, more definition? Exactly what I was looking for! A football field is anything but clean when you have all those sweaty boys out there. My background paper now evokes a feeling that matches the energy of the photos.

ScrapSimple Paper Templates can be a great addition to your digital scrapbooking stash, giving you the ability to start your own paper from scratch or multiplying the usability of your ready-made papers. How do you use ScrapSimple Paper Templates? We would love for you to upload your layouts to the Scrap Girls Gallery and show us!